Filter arrangement in kitchen ventilating system

ABSTRACT

A kitchen ventilator having a ventilator hood in which is located a fan in a fan housing. The bottom of the fan housing is horizontal and removable and forms the upper portion of a slablike grease separator unit. The bottom of the separator unit also forms the bottom of the ventilator hood. The grease separating means are formed by vertical posts, vanes or walls formed integrally with the separator unit upper portion and cooperating with the separator unit bottom to repeatedly alter the air flow direction either horizontally or vertically. The entire filter unit may be removed and folded open for cleaning, thereby also leaving the fan housing open for cleaning.

y United States Patent 11 3,768,237 Bergmark [4 1 Oct. 30, 1973 l FILTERARRANGEMENT 1N KITCHEN 1,115,873 11/1914 Spencer 55/44] VENTILATINGSYSTEM 3,285,156 11/1966 Bohanon... 55/440 I 3,433,146 3/1969 Russell I.55/D1G. 36 1 lnvemorr Nils Randolf Bergmark, ge 3,566,585 3/l971Voloshen et al 55/435 Byske 930 47 Sweden FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS [22] Filed: Jan. 29, 19 1 354,917 7/1961 Switzerland 98/115K 2 App]. NOJ 111 011 7 1,297,543 5/1962 France 98/115 K PrimaryExaminer-Bernard Nozick [30] Foreign Application Priority Data A;m nCushman, Darby & Cushman Jan. 30, 1970 Sweden 1217/70 [57] ABSTRACT Cl55/439 55/444 A kitchen ventilator having a ventilator hood in which 5 II SSIDK" K is located a fan in a fan housing. The bottom of the I l] M.L fan housing is horizonta and removable and forms the [58] Fle d ofSearch upper portion of a slab-like grease separator unit. The 55/467437-43 3 8/115 bottom of the separator unit also forms the bottom of Ithe ventilator hood. The grease separating means are [56] Referencesdformed by vertical posts, vanes or walls formed inte- UNITED STATESPATENTS A. grally with the separator unit upper portion andcoopl,026,675 5/1912 Hickey 55/445 erating with the separator unitbottom to repeatedly 2,523,844 11/1950 ts n 36 alter the air flowdirection either horizontally or verti- 2'97l'452 2/1961 F et a] SS/DIG-36 cally. The entire filter unit may be removed and glcllvame foldedopen for cleaning, thereby also leaving the fan oane R25,06l 10/1961Raub et a1. 55/436 housmg for cleanmg 2 Claims, 5 Drawing FiguresPATENTEI] "BI 30 I975 SHEET 10F 2 PATENTED UN 3 0 I973 3,768,237 SHEEI20F 2 FILTER ARRANGEMENT INKITCHEN VENTILATING SYSTEM The presentinvention relates to a kitchen ventilator or extractor of the type whichcomprises a ventilator hood, a fan located in a fan housing, and aremovable grease capturing separator unit located in the air flow tersthe proximity of the centre of the ventilator. This means losing thefavourable shielding effect obtained when the air is drawn in throughslots along the periphery of the hood.

Another disadvantage is that a number of components have to bedismounted when the ventilator is to be cleaned, thus making this workcumbersome.

An object of the present invention is to provide a separator arrangementfor a kitchen ventilator of the aforementioned type which eliminatesthese disadvantages.

In accordance with a preferred aspect of the invention, this is achievedwith a kitchen ventilator, which is characterized in that said separatorunit comprises an upper portion formed by the removable bottom of thefan housing, a bottom parallel with said upper portion and locatedspaced below this, and air flow deflecting members connected with theunderside of the fan housing bottom and extending downwards therefromtowards the separator unit bottom, sai'd deflecting means cooperatingwith said separator unit bottom so as to repeatedly change the directionof air drawn in from a peripheral air inlet of the filter unit andflowing between said upper portion and said separator unit bottomtowards said fan. i

gether the removable separator unit may be folded open, therebyrendering all inner surfaces accessible for cleaning purposes. The upperportion and the bottom may be formed in one piece, a plastics hingemeans then forming said pivotal connection.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the air intake openingsare formed by the vertical spaces located between the upper portion andthe bottom of the separator unit thereby'obviating the necessity ofmaking the openings in said members by special working operations.Alternatively, the air intake openings may be arranged turneddownwardly, .by providing the upper portion of the separator unit with aside wall and giving the bottom portion of the unit smaller dimensionsthan the upper portion so that a slot is left free between the edgesurfaces of the two'members. In a corresponding manner the air intakeopenings can be arranged turned upwardly, by making the upper portion ofthe separator unit slightly smaller than the bottom and providing thebottom with side walls. In this case, the bottom forms a bowl-likestructure which captures the grease separated in the separator unit.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the bottom may alsobe constructed as a grease collecting bowl when the air intake openingsare vertical.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to theaccompanying drawing, in which FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a firstembodiment of a kitchen ventilator, seen in FIG. 1 in front view invertical section along the line I--I in FIG. 2, and in FIG. 2 in planview in section along the line II--II in FIG. 1. In a mannercorrespondingto FIG. 2, FIG. 3 illustrates a section through a secondembodiment of a kitchen ventilator constructed in accordance with theinvention. FIG. 4 is a front view of an alternate embodiment taken alonglines IV-IV of FIG. 5 and FIGS. 5 is view taken along lines V-V OF FIG.4. I

Both of the illustrated embodiments have a ventilator hood 1, alongeach. short side of which is mounted a lamp housing 3. The under side ofthe ventilator hood is completely open, its walls closed and its upperside is provided with an air outlet opening 5. The air outlet opening 5opens from a volute-shaped fan housing 7 formed by a vertical wallattached to the upper side of the hood.'A fan wheel 9'provided with avertical shaft draws in air centrally through an opening 11 of theseparator unit 13 arranged beneaththe fan housing.

The separator unit 13 consists of an upper portion 15, preferably madefroma plastics material, and a bottom 17, suitably made of sheet metal.The upper portion 15 and the bottom 17 are connected together by a hinge(not shown) located at the rear edge of the separator unit. The upperside of the upper portion 15 is provided with channels 18 intended toreceive the lower edges of the walls of the fan housing 7. The separatorunit 13 is held in place in the ventilator hood 1 by means of holdingclips or the like located between the fan housing 7 or the hood 1 andthe bottom 17 at the front portion of the fan housing and by virtue ofthe fact that the separator unit rests on a support surface at the rearedge of the hood. In this way, the upper portion 15 of the separatorunit forms the bottom of the fan housing 7 with its air outlet passageto the outlet opening 5.

The air is sucked in to the separator unit 13 through the slot-like airintake openings 19, which are formed at the periphery of the separatorunit by reason of the fact that there are no vertical walls either atthe front or at the sides of said periphery. Between these air intakeopenings 19 and the air outlet opening'll on the separator unit arearranged air deflecting members,

which remove from the air particles of grease suspended therein.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the air deflectingmembers consist of walls 21, projecting from the upperportion 15, andstrips 23 projecting upwardly from the bottom- 17, the walls and stripsbeing arranged alternatingly in the flow path'of the air. The walls 21and the strips 23 form elongated arcuate structures which begin andterminate at the rear side of the separator unit, the shape of thearcuate structures conforming to the periphery of the separator unit.The air flow' is deflected by the walls 21 and the strips 23 in avertical zig-zag path, as shown by the arrows in FIG. 1. The air flow isnot deflected horizontally to any appreciable extent however, but isdirected radially towards the opening 11. Also located between the upperportion 15 and the bottom 17 are distance pieces (not shown), arrangedto maintain the desired distance between the two members.

Alternatively all the projections or walls may be mounted on either theupper portion or the bottom,

certain walls being mounted with distance pieces to permit air to flowunder the walls.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the air deflecting members arein the form of vertical walls 25 which are made integral with the upperportion and extend down to the bottom 17. The walls are in the form ofundulating structures with their main extension radially directed to theair outlet 11. The walls cause the inflowing air to movehorizontallyalong a zig-zag path without appreciable verticaldeflection. The numher, position and shape of the walls is adapted sothat optimal separation of grease is obtained at the least resistance toflow. Certain or all of the walls or portions thereof can be arranged toform distance pieces, to maintain the upper portion 15 and the bottom 17in spaced apart relationship.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, the air deflection members are shown in the form ofvanes 29a which bridge over the distance between the upper portion andthe filter unit bottom.

The particles of fat removed from the through flowing air are collectedon the air deflecting members and on the bottom of the separator units.In the illustrated examples, the bottom 17 is provided with an upwardlyfolded outer edge 27 which projects slightly beyond the upper portion 15to capture any particles of grease which may fall from the outer edgesurface thereof. When the separator unit is to be cleaned, the catchmembers are removed, whereafter the upper portion and bottom are removedtogether. The interior of the separator unit can be easily cleaned,subsequent to swinging the bottom and the upper portion apart. The

fan housing can also be easily cleaned, since its bottom is formed bythe upper portion of the separator unit which has been removed.

I claim:

1. A kitchen ventilator comprising a ventilator hood having an airoutlet, a fan housing in said hood and having a fan, said fan housinghaving a suction air inlet and an air outlet, said air outlet of saidfan housing opening onto said air outlet of said hood, a greasecapturing separator unit having a first planar wall having a peripheraledge and an opening therethrough to said suction air inlet of said fanhousing, said grease capturing separator unit having a second planarwall extending substantially parallel to said first wall and spacedthereform, said second wall having a peripheral edge that is bentslightly towards said first wall whereby grease collected by saidseparator unit will be retained by said second wall, at least a portionof the space between said peripheral edges of said first and secondwalls being open to define an air inlet to said separator unit, saidsecond wall of said separator unit constituting the closed bottom ofsaid ventilator hood, said separator unit also having air flowdeflection members comprising a plurality of posts which are formedintegrally with and extend from said first wall to said second wall tocause repeated deflections of air passing through said separator unit tosaid suction air inlet of said fan housing, means removably mountingsaid separator unit in said hood adjacent said fan.

2. A kitchen ventilator as claimed in claim I, wherein said posts areshaped as air deflecting vanes.

1. A kitchen ventilator comprising a ventilator hood having an airoutlet, a fan housing in said hood and having a fan, said fan housinghaving a suction air inlet and an air outlet, said air outlet of saidfan housing opening onto said air outlet of said hood, a greasecapturing separator unit having a first planar wall having a peripheraledge and an opening therethrough to said suction air inlet of said fanhousing, said grease capturing separator unit having a second planarwall extending substantially parallel to said first wall and spacedthereform, said second wall having a peripheral edge that is bentslightly towards said first wall whereby grease collected by saidseparator unit will be retained by said second wall, at least a portionof the space between said peripheral edges of said first and secondwalls being open to define an air inlet to said separator unit, saidsecond wall of said separator unit constituting the closed bottom ofsaid ventilator hood, said separator unit also having air flowdeflection members comprising a plurality of posts which are formedintegrally with and extend from said first wall to said second wall tocause repeated deflections of air passing through said separator unit tosaid suction air inlet of said fan housing, means removably mountingsaid separator unit in said hood adjacent said fan.
 2. A kitchenventilator as claimed in claim 1, wherein said posts are shaped as airdeflecting vanes.